Light Keepers

Gurnet Point Light in Plymouth, Massachusetts, is distinct from any other lighthouse in the United States: It is associated with Hannah Thomas, the first female lighthouse keeper in America. When Hannah’s husband went off to fight in the War for Independence, Hannah remained behind to keep the great lamp burning to guide ships out at sea.

In spiritual terms, women have been keepers of the light for centuries: Agnes of Rome was martyred for refusing to sacrifice to pagan gods. Glady Aylward was a missionary to China who shared the gospel in villages and prisons and among lepers. Rose Lathrop, daughter of Nathaniel Hawthorne, established homes in the late 1800s for young women suffering from cancer. Like John the Baptist, these women directed and guided others toward the true light that came into the world: Jesus.

Have you ever watched the sun reflecting off prisms hanging from a crystal chandelier? The prisms themselves are not the light; they merely reflect the light produced by the chandelier. Yet they are capable of throwing hundreds of sparkling rainbows throughout a room. In his book Desiring God, John Piper wrote, “We were made to be prisms refracting the light of God’s glory into all of life. Why God should want to give us a share in shining with his glory—shekinah—is a great mystery. Call it grace or mercy or love—it is an unspeakable wonder!”

To reflect the light of God’s presence in a dark and damaged world, we have to stay close to the source: the Son. The more we let his light shine into our eyes and reflect into the eyes of others, the more we become like him. “And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Let’s be keepers of God’s light—ensuring that the light of his love burns brightly. We can also reflect that light into the lives of others. It only takes a small beacon of light to dispel the darkness

Reflection

What positive feeling do you derive from each light source you listed?

How can you emit a Christlike light in your home or workplace?

John 1:7–9[John] came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.

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